Heart of Stone
by ThePJ3067
Summary: He could not stand the shame. His foolish actions, which led to his master's death. Galio swears to seek penance for his master. All he does, he will do in the name of Durand. A (hopefully) long work of fiction which will center on Galio, but will involve numerous other characters. This is my first story, so please rate and review.
1. Background

The rain kept pouring.

Galio did not know how long he had been standing guard over the remains of his long dead master. His creator, his purpose for existence. Lay dead before him.

If only he had had the strength, if only he had the fortitude to protect his master. Yet now, all he can do, is stand over him, filled with shame.

They came from all directions. Galio and his master never saw them coming. Within moments, the two of them were surrounded on all sides. Galio fought the assassins off with all his might, with all his strength, but it was not enough. Restrained and helpless, the gargoyle construct could only watch in horror as his master was brutally cut down and murdered before his eyes.

He did not bother to chase them as they scampered off, fleeing like rats. He had eyes for only the desecrated corpse of his master, once so full of life, and imbuing that flowing life force into golems which he constructed, of which his masterpiece was Galio himself.

It flowed no more. The genius artificer and mage Durand, creator of the mighty golems which tireless patrol and guard the city-state of Demacia, was dead, because of his own carelessness, his own weakness. His master had to pay for Galio's own dire mistakes.

He could not handle the shame. Yet he still stood there, without purpose, completely aimless. It could have been days, months or even years which have passed, time no longer made any difference to him. He still stood there, both in being a sentinel of his own shame, and in mourning for his master.

Until that day, when he noticed a figure approaching. A small yordle girl, seemingly shouldering a great burden. However, Galio could see the fire and determination in her eyes. The will to continue, to never quit or give up. The will which he lacked.

No more. When she departed, so did Galio's purgatory. His master's life purpose came back to him after all this time. To defend and protect the city from harm. He decided to seek penance for his weakness by following his master's will. Even if he is dead, Durand's legacy will live on, Galio will make sure of that.

 **Author's Notes:** **Hello all, after a long time of being on this website, and an even longer time of playing LoL, I have decided to write my own Fanfiction. I am, by no means, any form of literary expert, and I would rate myself mediocre on a good day. However, this has developed into a sort of hobby of mine. Anyways, onto the story. This is kind of an introductory chapter, which is why it's extremely short and just basically a background for Galio, who btw, should get much more play. Future chapters will hopefully be much longer and future notes should hopefully be much shorter. Furthermore, as this is a new hobby of mine, I have no editor, beta reader or anything of the sort, so I apologize in advance for any spelling/grammar errors in advance. Also, English is not my mother tongue. I would greatly appreciate any reviews, whether it is criticism, complimenting, or just saying hi.**

 **Thank you for reading, and see you next chapter!**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2.

Galio opened his eyes.

He will always remember that day, the day where he failed his one purpose for creation. Even now, soaring in a battle raging in the Summoner's Rift, he still feels shame for his actions. He had joined the League of Legends under the pretense of fighting in the name of Demacia, but he had an additional, ulterior motif. In which he was fighting to seek penance for his mistakes. In the League, every day was the same schedule for Galio. During the day, he would participate in any matches in which he was required in, but any apart from that, there was a lot of free time. Especially in his case, as he did not require any sustenance from food, nor did he require any form of rest. Thus, most of his time was spent either lost in his memories, or wandering the halls of the Institute aimlessly. Today was one of these boring days, with Galio dutifully trudging through the halls until he saw a figure in front of him, which caused him to halt in slight surprise.

The very same yordle girl from all those years ago. He remembered her clearly, as well as everything that transpired from the moment of his unforgivable failure to his return to the city state. A return made possible by the very figure in front of him. She seemed even stronger and more determined now, wearing full armor and wielding a warhammer nearly as large as herself without a problem. Galio, compelled with an abrupt desire to say something, stopped in front of her and waited. The girl looked back at him, slightly confused but seemingly not intimidated whatsoever, despite being halted by a living stone gargoyle almost thrice her size. 'Yes?' she started. Galio composed himself, then said to the girl, 'You may not remember it after all these years, but we have met before, albeit in relatively insignificant circumstances for you.' She cocked her head quizzically, her face in thought, trying to recall when she had ever met any such stone construct. Galio put on a slight smile at the girl's attempt to recall their meeting, and decided to jog her memory. 'It was quite a while ago, around the Howling Marsh, in the forests of the path leading to Demacia.'

She thought for a while, before turning back to face him, her mouth slightly open, eyes filled with recognition. 'The lone statue in the middle of the forest that I walked past. Was that?' she began. Galio nodded, glad that she was able to correctly place him in her memory.

'Although we never exchanged a word, and you were not even aware of my sentience, that brief moment was enough for me to see all your emotions, how you were shouldering a great burden and still somehow, against all odds, keep going forward. It made me look at myself and how I was dealing with my situation, and I saw that you were a much stronger being than I, as I was created to be a guardian, a protector, yet I still failed my job. However, what use is a guardian if all he did was stand in shame and mourning? You made me see the stupidity of my ways, and for this, I thank you.'

Without waiting for a response, Galio looked at her once more before turning away and walking to the Demacian wing of the institute to his room, where although he did not require rest, he needed to think about all that had transpired today.

'Wait!' The gargoyle stopped, turning his head around slightly to the girl.

'I never caught your name.' He chuckled deeply, a low rumbling from the bottom of his throat. 'I am known as Galio, and might I ask for your name?' he ended. 'It's Poppy, I am the ambassador of Bandle City in Demacia now and when you saw me must be when I was first entering the city.'

'Interesting.' Galio mused. 'You have progressed much in such a short time. This is truly-.'

'Sorry for interrupting, but I was on my way to a match and I'm running late.' Poppy cut in. 'Shall we meet up later? In the Institute cafeteria during lunch?' Galio smiled inwardly at the thought of how he had no need for food and would never have went to the cafeteria anyways.

'It'll be my pleasure.'


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 – HoS

The Institute's cafeteria was a grand affair. It had to be, seeing as it had to cater to extremely prominent figures such as Jarvan or Swain. Galio never had much interest in the cafeteria before, as there was need for him to be there apart from accompanying his fellow Demacians. While they accepted him into their group without protest, Galio always knew he wasn't truly part of them. They were banded together, united with their loyalty and love towards their country, following codes of honor and justice. All he was created for, however, was all for naught with his master's death. Although he was filled with sorrow and grief over the assassination of his master, he never felt the urge for vengeance. Why bring about more death and grief when it wouldn't even bring his master back? Galio never bothered to find out the assassins' identities, nor did he ever regret not doing so. Galio closed his eyes and reminisced about Durand's words.

'Galio, I will teach you your most important lesson' his master told him during a walk. 'Yes, master?' Galio responded, eager to learn what his master had to impart. 'What is your duty?' his master asked. Galio blinked, slightly confused at the question. 'My duty is to protect and guard.' He spoke calmly after his slight hesitation. 'Correct, Galio, you are a protector, a defender, a guardian. You ensure safety to the people, you are the mighty protector. So, Galio, never forget who you are. Never lose sight of your purpose, and whatever may happen, remember that you are the guardian. Protect and serve Galio, not search and destroy. The path of revenge only leads to self-destruction.'

Every time he remembered that lesson, Galio always felt that Durand had expected that Galio would fail his duty at one point, but now Galio realized that his master was protecting him, for if he never said that, then there was no doubt in Galio's mind that Galio would hunt the assailants to the ends of the world. Thus, he would live for penance and mourning for Durand.

'Valoran to Galio, are you there?'

Galio opened his eyes and saw a certain Yordle girl with a warhammer and shield sitting opposite him. 'Um, how long have you been sitting here?' Galio embarrassingly asked. 'A while ago, you seemed to be in deep thought, so I didn't want to interrupt you, until your face just seemed to lighten up.'

'Ah, I was just thinking of the past' Galio rumbled. 'You too, huh' Poppy said with a sad smile.

The two then conversed a bit before falling back into silence, simply enjoying the company of someone who had shared similar experiences.

Once the lunch was over and goodbyes were exchanged, Galio went back to his room to find a letter, decorated and sealed with the gold and blue of Demacia. Once he opened it and read it, he found out it was a letter from prince Jarvan IV asking if he would be willing to participate in an upcoming League match with the other Demacians. It made Galio wonder if he was really that distant from his fellow countrymen that a formal letter had to be sent to him to request his optional participation in a match.

While it was certainly true he was never very popular as a pick among his fellow champions in the League, Galio never minded much as it simply gave him more time to think about everything that had happened in his life. It was an activity Galio enjoyed to do, despite it seeming odd if he brought it up as a recreational pastime, but he liked to remember the times when he was with his master, and cursed himself for his stupidity when he overlooked an ambush which led to Durand's demise.

But now, however, he was invited to a match which would have the other Demacian champions with him. While he did meet them and converse slightly with some of the champions, he had never really been close to any and was probably seen as an outcast. Now, Galio wasn't really one to care about what others thought of him, as he was a giant living stone gargoyle, but he decided some relations could be improved.

He decided to participate in the match.


End file.
